KRC Genk II beat Sport Hasselt 3-0 in the fourth round of the Challenger Pro League on Saturday evening. The hosts sealed the result with a second-half strike, leaving Hasselt with little to show for their dominance in possession. Both sides remain level on six points after four games, though Genk II sit higher in the table.
Kim Myung-jun opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, but the game soon turned into a VAR exercise. M. Bounou's effort was cancelled in the thirtieth minute, and Kim's own goal was disallowed seven minutes later. By then Genk II had already taken the lead, and the referee's decisions kept the scoreboard unchanged.
Kiyan Achahbar restored Genk II's advantage in the forty-seventh minute, and the goal was confirmed after a VAR review in the fiftieth. Hasselt's Siebe Van Keymolen was awarded a penalty in the forty-third minute, but it was cancelled when play resumed. The visitors could not convert any of their chances, and Genk II closed the game out before the substitutions began.
Genk II made three changes in the sixty-sixth minute, bringing on Lucca Lucker, Livio Milts and Loic Masscho. Yumeki Yoshinaga and Djoully Nzoko joined the action in the seventy-first minute, while Lucas Eric Vankerkhoven replaced Jonathan Coenen in the seventy-eighth. The final changes saw Kim Myung-jun come off for Jelle Driessen and Manu Mocsnik's penalty appeal fall on deaf ears in stoppage time.
The statistics told a familiar story. Genk II held 34 per cent possession and registered two shots on target alongside one off target. Hasselt controlled 66 per cent of the ball and attempted ten shots from outside the penalty area, but only one hit the target. The hosts made seven saves to Hasselt's six, and the numbers confirmed that Genk II took what they needed.
Both sides now have two wins and two defeats from four league games. Genk II occupy sixth place with six points, while Hasselt sit ninth on the same total. The result ends a run of mixed results for the hosts, who had won their previous two fixtures before losing to Lierse earlier in the month.
